Five Years Later, Detectives Still Seeking Man's Killer

Tuesday

Nov 20, 2012 at 10:54 AM

Five years ago today, Roberto Mayorga and his brother, Sergio, went to Sunny's Food Store at 2085 W. Highland St. in Lakeland. The pair planned to buy a pre-paid phone card, and then head off to pick up their brother, Enrique Mayorga, from jail.

By CLIFFORD PARODYTHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | Five years ago today, Roberto Mayorga and his brother, Sergio, went to Sunny's Food Store at 2085 W. Highland St. in Lakeland. The pair planned to buy a pre-paid phone card, and then head off to pick up their brother, Enrique Mayorga, from jail. They were looking forward to the reunion and were going to use the phone card to call their mother in Mexico, said Chino Cruz, Roberto Mayorga's friend.

But the reunion never happened.

Detectives say the pair were sitting in Roberto Mayorga's 2005 Dodge Stratus in the parking lot when an unknown black man approached them, demanding money. When Mayorga refused, the thief fired a single shot and ran.

Sergio Mayorga chased the shooter, who fired multiple rounds back at him, across West Highland, but a lack of light and concerns about his brother brought him back to the car, where a small crowd had gathered.

Twenty-five year-old Roberto Mayorga, who lived just across the street on Suwanee Avenue with his wife and two daughters, was dead in the driver's seat.

Polk County Sheriff's Office Capt. J.B. Williams and Lt. Jamie Rudd have been working the case.

"There were minimal leads on this case," Williams said. "In the beginning we interviewed multiple people but nobody developed into a legitimate suspect."

"But by no means has it really been cold," Rudd added. "We've been actively working tips, but we do want to get it back out to the community to refresh people's memories."

Both Williams and Rudd say it appears the victim did not do anything to provoke the shooting, and that it could have been a wrong place-wrong time type of thing.

"They were just listening to the radio and talking in the parking lot," Rudd said.

"Sometimes guys get a little overzealous during a robbery and shoot someone and run," Williams said.

Mayorga's family declined to comment for the story.

PCSO cold case detectives say they hope that now, with so much time between the crime and the present, those with information will be willing to come forward.

"Eventually people talk," Rudd said. "Even the suspect might talk, and it may seem innocent at the time, but eventually people talk."

The suspect was described as a black man in his mid-20s, 5-foot 6-inches to 5-foot 8- inches tall with a medium build. He was clean shaven with short hair, wearing dark pants and a black jacket.

"We have not forgotten about this atrocious murder. We will always keep it pending and continue looking for new information," Sheriff Grady Judd said this week.

"But we've got to have help. We can't do it alone."

If you have information, contact the PCSO at 863-298-6200, or Heartland Crimestoppers at 800-226-TIPS.

[ Clifford Parody can be reached at clifford.parody@theledger.com or 863-802-7516. ]